I was always a fan of Michele Soavi, from his days of being a fledgling director under the wing of Dario Argento to flying freely on his own with the beautiful and fanciful Dellamorte Dellamore with Rupert Everett that seemed to take on everything from being a horror film set in a cemetery based on a famous Italian comic strip to a contemplation on the nature and purpose of man's existence. Its somewhat 'nihilistic' ending puzzles me in a good way, I'm still not sure if it's about the repudiation of violence and death or an acceptance of it and planned return to it, but it is intriguing. Given that Soavi's career seemed to end there, I was surprised and delighted to discover he had finally returned to the screen showing an unsuspected facet of his cinematic talents - that of successfully becoming a director of long and extremely exciting TV movies that basically are police procedurals pitting man against a corrupt society, whether it be against a violent gang of rouge cops headed by three brothers (remember Argento's three mothers?), a man infiltrating the mafia (Raoul Bova L'infiltrato) or a cop hunting down a serial killer in a terrifying TV movie Ultima Pallattola, all of them based on real incidents in Italy. The first of these three (and Soavi did others with Roaul Bova) is the best, with Pallattola coming in a close second. Uno Bianca is a movie that begs for and could sustain a worldwide theatrical release and do more than hold its own. The synopsis has been covered well in other comments so no rehash here. The film is tight, suspenseful, never boring and though the plot could be described as a somewhat usual police procedural, the style the director achieves pushes it way up into another realm. The viewer really identifies with Kim Rossi Stuart who is superb as Valerio; we get to follow in his footsteps as he slowly discovers the impossible truth, that the 'Uno Bianca' gang is not a bunch of Romanian thugs but his own 'brothers' - cops - and we struggle with him as against all odds he takes on his higher-ups who'd rather keep him from making a name for himself than allow him to catch the gang and get any credit. It's one of the strongest 'identification with the lead character' movies I've ever seen. It's a film that succeeds on every level - thanks to imaginative direction, gorgeous camera-work and color, editing that is unique, even breathtaking, and a haunting, pulsating score, tight script and actors cast perfectly down to the smallest roles. Who could ask for anything more in a three hour movie? It leaves you totally satisfied. I've seen this many times now and never get tired of putting it on. I'm glad all of Soavi's three hour TV movies are available on DVD and I have them all. Also his noir theatrical release Arrivederci Amore, Ciao is worth catching and has a brilliant shock ending with some cool shots and great use of slow-mo. It's a pretty cruel and amoral movie though less cruel than the novel on which it is based, a fact criticized by many reviewers, but it has an anti-hero who really stays an anti-hero. The familiar style, camera work and editing of his TV movies is in evidence here. Michele Placido is in it and Soavi's style was a definite influence on his own remarkable Romanza Criminale film. I was thrilled to hear Soavi was going to return to horror with a film called Catacombs Club. Instead he came out with a war drama released theatrically Il Sangue dei Vinti. Haven't seen it but will when it's released on DVD - and hope he does do Catacombs Club as I'd like to see what he does with a horror film as a mature director. For those fans who liked Stagefright, The Church and The Sect and thought Dellamorte was the end - it was only the beginning. Soavi has been prominently directing incredibly suspenseful films full of his lyrical style, mostly for TV, since Uno Bianca, including an overlong TV bio-pic of St. Francis called Francesco which however is not without merit and stars the ever anxious to pair with Soavi Raoul Bova as the maligned Saint. But of all his films, Uno Bianca may lay claim to being his best. There's not a wrong, boring moment in this three hours; everything clicks like a precise watch and you realize it's no accident. Michele Soavi is behind the lens.
Review of Uno bianca
